6. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
Christian
L eaving Stormy in order to go to work nearly broke my heart, but it had to be done.
In turn, I was exhausted when I pulled into the driveway at the end of my first day.
Dillon was a fair employer, a stickler for taking breaks, and a bit anal on how he liked things. That was completely fair—given the store was his. Passed down by his father a little while ago.
He had a growing business, and I was happy to be a part of his team.
Stocking proved pretty easy and, with my math skills, running the till wasn’t hard.
Everything was so fancy these days. Of course, I didn’t have many clear memories of the old days —what with being Gen Z and all that.
I still had nostalgia, however, for a simpler time.
Probably the reason I bought paperback books .
In fact, I’d run over to the library during my break to snag a couple. I planned to sit on the veranda, with Stormy at my side and my feet elevated while reading a book and maybe sipping tea.
I’d closed the gate after driving through it, so I wasn’t worried about Stormy escaping when she barreled from the house to greet me. “Were you a good girl?”
She plopped onto her butt. Apparently, to her, those words were interpreted as sit and treat.
I pulled a little treat from my pocket and held it out to her.
Precisely zero hesitation as she lapped it off my hand.
I petted her head, making certain to scratch her ears. “You’re the best. Did you have a good day?”
“She did.”
Glancing up, I caught sight of Noah lazily walking down the couple of steps from the house and then sauntering over to us. He looked positively yummy in a tight T-shirt and jeans that hugged his frame. “Glad to hear it.”
He stopped about a foot away from me. “How’d you manage?”
“First time I ever did manual labor.” I grinned. “I loved it. Am exhausted and want a shower, but…yeah, feeling really good.”
“Why don’t you soak in the tub? I made a grilled chicken salad for tonight. The day’s been warm, and I didn’t want anything heavy.” He eyed me. “Obviously you’ve just burned a ton of calories and need a real—”
“Chicken salad is a real meal, and it’s one of my favorites. Thank you.” I had the absurd desire to kiss him as thanks, but that would’ve been just weird.
Right?
Right. “Thank you for your consideration.” Because that didn’t sound all kinds of weird .
“I needed to eat as well. We have the vanilla ice cream we bought along with some strawberries and the pastries to make strawberry shortcakes.”
I grinned. “My favorite.”
“Yeah, I remember. You look tired.”
“I’m exhausted.”
“Then shower or take a bath or whatever, and I’ll have the food ready.”
“Okay.” I started toward the house.
Stormy was hard on my heels.
I pivoted to turn back to Noah. “Is this okay?”
“She missed you today, and no amount of me telling her that you were coming back would persuade her not to be sad.”
I knelt. “You were sad? You barely know me.”
Stormy licked my cheek.
“You might just wind up being her person.” Noah grinned. “Which just means I’ll have to rescue my own dog.”
“You’re going to recreate your menagerie.”
His face darkened. “I never should have moved in with Leroy. What a disaster that proved to be.” He’d had to re-home a cat to move in with the cheating creepoid.
It had broken Noah’s heart, but Fluffy—the name she’d come with—had wound up in a home with three other cats where she’d quickly taken the reins and had decided she needed to be top cat.
No one—not human or feline—had argued. Yeah, she’d landed well.
And Noah was now alone.
I’d considered asking if he wanted to see if the family would be willing to let Fluffy go so we could bring her to California, but I figured Noah’d known that was an option.
If the cat was as settled as we’d been led to believe, then taking her back would’ve been stressful.
Not to mention a car ride across the country.
“Well, Leroy is in the rearview mirror. Let’s head inside. ”
A slight breeze wafted across the lazy spring day, but heat still lingered, even as we neared early evening.
“Shower then grub.” He patted me on the back. “You did good.”
We walked together up to the house and then ascended the stairs.
“How do you know?”
He cocked his head. “You’re you. Truthfully, you wouldn’t give less than a hundred and ten percent. Dillon’s lucky to have you.” He opened the front door and held it so I could step through.
Stormy followed with Noah bringing up the rear.
The house was marginally cooler, but he hadn’t been running the a/c in the last bit of time, so heat again lingered.
I headed upstairs. In my room I sniffed my clothes as I stripped.
Not stinky—so I could wear them one more day.
I’d need to run over to the closest town that had a discount clothing store because I needed way more jeans and T-shirts.
A week’s worth, at least, so I wasn’t doing laundry too often.
The well was deep, but I’d heard about drought conditions persisting in California, and I didn’t want to use water if I didn’t need to.
And on that thought, I didn’t linger in the shower, even though my muscles would’ve appreciated a soak. Instead, I cleaned myself and hopped out. Then I dried off, donned a distressed T-shirt and sleep pants, and headed downstairs.
Noah would understand I didn’t want to get changed a second time. Nope. I’d eat, maybe watch half an hour of television, then crash. I was exhausted—physically and mentally.
“Sit.” Noah gestured toward the table. “Unless you want to eat in front of the television. ”
“Nope, this is perfect.” Sometimes we crashed and ate in front of the boob tube.
My favorite times, though, were when we sat and just chatted about our days.
Whenever he was single, I ensured we spent as much time as possible together.
When he was in a relationship, though, he tended to lose himself in the guy and, as often as not, forget about me.
No, that was too dramatic. Just…I’d have to fight for his attention. That hurt.
I plopped into the chair and sighed.
Noah placed a huge bowl of salad before me. “That bad?”
“Like the day we went climbing in the Ozarks.”
“Ouch.” He placed a glass of chilled lemonade by my hand. “That was something we never repeated.”
“I know, right? We’re fit, but that trek was insane. Well, today sort of felt like that. But I’ll get used to it, and I’m not complaining, okay?” I dug my fork into a slice of cold chicken as he sat next to me with his glass of ice water and his dinner.
He put the creamy peppercorn dressing by my hand.
I took it with a grateful smile and doused my salad. Then I picked up the fork with the chicken—now covered in dressing. Just the way I liked it.
We consumed the first few bites in silence.
I eyed Noah. He had something on his mind, and I was damn curious. “You find any new clients today?”
“A few people visited the website, but no calls yet. I did go over to Hartsville to put a flyer up in the pet store as well as to talk to the manager about offering lessons. He seemed open to the idea, but said he needed to talk to the owner. If it’s a go, we’d have to decide if the store would offer them and pay me or if they’d just sponsor the classes and I’d be responsible for everything. ”
“That’s great news.” I speared some lettuce. “Anything else interesting happen?”
“The manager, Sam, sort of asked me out?”
“Is that a question or a statement?”
“Uh…both?”
“Are you going to go out with him?” Please say no. Please say no. Please say —
“I don’t think so.” He dipped a piece of chicken delicately into his dressing.
“He was damn attractive. Dark, flawless skin. Big brown eyes.” He glanced down at Stormy.
“Not like hers, but puppy-dog eyes nonetheless.” He sighed.
“And brawny. Totally didn’t wonder if he could haul bags of dog food around. ”
“Oh. Well, attractive is good.” Here we go again.
Noah had a type . Somehow, the good looks always covered up a major flaw—usually that the guy was a jerk.
“Are you sure—” I speared another piece of lettuce.
Perhaps harder than was strictly necessary.
“—that you’re ready for another relationship?
You’re barely out of the last one. And you kind of got your heart broken.
Maybe take a break before diving back in? ”
For all I knew, this guy might be the one . I might be talking Noal out of the perfect relationship for him. Yet I couldn’t stop myself. “I mean, maybe if you wait a month or two? Until you’re settled? He lives over in Hartsville, so that’s a long way to go.”
“Actually, he lives close to Foggy Basin and commutes. He just loves animals that much.”
Oh dear God. “Well, maybe you are ready—”
“Nope. You’re right. I can see that now.” He pointed his fork at me. “How about you?”
“Me?” I blinked. Is he asking if we might go out? That he might finally —
“Did you meet any nice women today? You must’ve been introduced to plenty of the store’s customers. Any attractive women? Did you make them laugh? Might they be attracted to you? Mission Find Christian a Girlfriend has not been abandoned.”
Oh dear. I’d sort of hoped he’d forgotten about that. “How was Stormy today? Did you do training? Do you think she’ll be able to help with the puppy class? Just over a week, eh? Has everyone paid?”
He eyed me. “I see what you’re doing.”
“Yeah, asking how your day went. I’m not going to date any woman who works at the store or anyone who might shop there.”
Noah pointed his fork at me. “Probably almost every woman in town shops at the store. It’s a little unrealistic to say you won’t date any of them.”
“It isn’t if I want to keep my job.” I took a sip of the lemonade—enjoying the bite. “Have you fed Stormy?”
“While you were in the shower and don’t change the subject.”
I blinked, attempting to feign innocence. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I bet you don’t.” He pursed his lips. “Operation Find Christian a Girlfriend is swinging into full gear next week.”
“Oh yay.”
So not.